Natasha Exelby, at the moment she realised she was on-air on Saturday night.Credit:ABC

Exelby managed to recover from the blooper, responding promptly when the next package ended and continuing to anchor the coverage until past midnight. She later took the incident in good humour, writing on Twitter to thank everyone for their support.

Exelby holds her pen as she begins to realise she is on air.Credit:ABC

An ABC spokeswoman would not be drawn on whether action had been taken against Exelby.

She told Fairfax Media: "Natasha Exelby is a casual contributor, not a staff member. She has been booked for occasional on-air shifts when needed, and also does other occasional shifts for the ABC News channel."

Exelby continued to anchor the ABC's rolling coverage for several more hours after the blooper.Credit:ABC

Reports of Exelby being reprimanded were met with a backlash, with dozens of journalists and some politicians taking to social media to defend her.